Will Targeted Radiation Stop a Deadly Brain Tumor?

Solving Kids’ Cancer supported this project because better methods to deliver treatments to the brain stem are urgently needed. In this research study, children with DIPG are treated with an antibody connected to a radioactive isotope and delivered directly to the tumor in the brain stem through a novel technique.

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) is very difficult to treat. Surgery and radiation are the most commonly used treatments for brain cancers, since other cancer treatments have a hard time penetrating the blood brain barrier. But, tumors located in the brain stem, as is the case for DIPG, cannot be surgically removed and radiation only delays the tumor growth by a few months at best. Solving Kids’ Cancer supported this project because better methods to deliver treatments to the brain stem are urgently needed. In this research study, children with DIPG are treated with an antibody connected to a radioactive isotope and delivered directly to the tumor in the brain stem through a novel technique.